Off he goes

Well, he is gone. We dropped him off at the MTC on Wednesday. Let me go back a little first.

We left on Friday and drove to Kingman to spend the night. Saturday we got up and drove to St. George. We stayed with my cousin Deanna. I love St. George. My grandparents lived there for 25 years and I have many happy memories. It has grown astronomically.

We did a session at the temple. It is such a beautiful temple; so old and ornate. When Sterling and I were first married, we went to visit my gparents and grandpa was working in the temple at the time. He took us up to see the solemn assembly room and it was neat to be up there. Anyway, after dinner with my cousin, we went out to Tuacahn to see a play. It is an outdoor theatre and wow was it neat. I was so impressed. The weather was great and the play was so well done. They were doing Les Miz and I love that play. Kevra said it was a little sad, which it is, but I love the story and the music. It was a great evening.We stopped at Kolob Canyon on the way Sunday cuz the kids had never seen it. When we got back in the car, the cd was playing "if I could high to Kolob.":)

Sunday after sacrament meeting we drove to Alpine and stayed with another cousin Lori. This is us playing Phase 10 that night. (Brendon is clearly looking at what I have.)We also went over to visit my aunt and uncle who live nearby. On Monday we went on to stay in SLC. We did some of the usual things: went to the history museum to see the current exhibit, went to the beehive house, ate dinner at the Lion House Pantry, saw the Joseph Smith movie. This is Kevra in front of the Beehive house with holly hocks. We love holly hocks.

Tuesday morning we did a session at the SLC temple. They do live sessions, which was fun to watch and gave me a different perspective on who says what. It was so cute cuz at least 6 people asked Brendon if he was a new missionary and then chatted with him about his coming experiences. I told him it was like being with a celebrity. We ate lunch at a little dive out in SugarHouse. Sterling had seen it on Diners, Drive-ins and Dives, one of his favorite shows on Foodtv. It was yummy. I think it was called the blue plate. I let each of the kids pick an activity to do while we were there. Jordon chose bowling, so we went bowling. This is Kevra getting a strike but not watching. My filming isn't the greatest. It was really fun. Kevra went shopping (duh) I went to the flour mill in Lehi. Sterling went to the Utah stadium (he has this weird fetish of taking pictures of football staduims) and Brendon I guess was getting to go to 2 temples.

Wednesday, we slept in, got ready and packed up to go. I think I was more upset traveling then once we got there. I did tear up a little once we were there. When you get to the MTC, there is so much excitement and tears. The spirit is so wonderful. Brendon says, this is all for the families and I would agree, but having smaller children, it is good for them to see where their brother is. Jordon did not remember being there with Trevor. Brendon couldn't wait to get at it. After a few short talks and a video clip, we said our good byes and he was gone. We were all very quiet in the car for a while as we thought of him and how much we love him and will miss him at home. But, I am so excited for him and happy for the experiences he will have and how much he will grow. Claudia said to me at church before we left that the really hard thing for moms is knowing that they will not come back the same. We want them to grow, but we will miss that boy that we just saw disappear behind those doors. The only other thing that is hard for me is not being able to talk to them. I understand why and agree, but it is hard. Letters and emails are golden.

We drove all the way home after we left him and all went to work and school the next day. I am thankful to have a son (2nd one) worthy, willing and able to serve the Lord. I am so blessed.